Hi,

My 2001 90 bhp Octavia developed a nasty fault and I wonder if anyone has any ideas. Often (but not always) it is very hard to engage 1st and reverse gears and when it's hot, changing up the box to higher gears is often hard too. Also, when stationary in 1st gear and the clutch pedal depressed there's often a knocking noise that goes if you put the box into neutral. And finally it's very juddery when taking off it 1st or reverse. However there are never any problems when changing down the box or when driving normally.

The car's done 180,000 miles.

Thanks, Bill

The judder could well be clutch related. If you floor it while in 5th, do the revs build up, then drop back down again, and then the speed increases?

Thanks for getting back so quickly. No, nothing like that happens. As I say, when you're driving along you'd never know there was anythng wrong. Down-shifts are perfect as well.

Try the following:

- Gearbox oil change (I used millers TRX fully synth)

- Getting the gear change cables adjusted or even replaced as cables do stretch over time.

- Have you had a new clutch and if so did they inspect the DMF at the time?

Sounds a little like something isn't releasing properly, but i could well be wrong as i havn't heard it.

Thanks, I'll try the new oil and cable adj/repl next weekend. The car's still on its original clutch. Is it worth checking the box / engine mountings at the same time ?

yeah, dog bone mount bushes do go soft over time.

180k is quite an distance for something made out of rubber.

for 180,000 miles that clutch is doing well I would have thought! I had mine replaced when I bought the car at about 70k as it slipped when I floored it (that was when the turbo worked properly *sob* *sob*)

Yup, I've been lucky with the car overall. This is the car's first fault in 180k miles. It'll still average over 60mpg too.

The original stuff is all covered. I've never had clutch slip (68k miles), but had aquaplaning in a straight line under full throttle at 50 (changed tyres since).